For the past month, I didn’t get a chance to log onto Medium for a reason that can be summed up by one word:
MCAT.
Anyone who is a pre-medical student or a medical professional likely has shivers running down their spine at the mere sound of the word. For those lucky enough to never have encountered it: the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) is an entrance exam for medical schools in the U.S. It covers two years of college courses across 8 different subjects, ranging from biology to physics to humanities.
LSAT who? These days I genuinely regret not going into law. (Just kidding.)
Naturally, over the next two and a half months of studying, I must remain cautious about even the slightest signs of burnout. After all of the studying is said and done, I’ve got the 8-hour exam to sit before I can fall into a six-month recovery coma.
Thankfully, studying for the MCAT has its benefits. Namely, it has some great tips on how to trick our neurobiology into being able to study for 12 hours daily and not burn out. I’m actually currently testing one of those tips as I’m writing this article. I’ll let you know how it goes by the end.
The ideal break
How do you picture the perfect break after a long, productive day? For me, it’s always been along the lines of spending my evenings watching YouTube videos passively — until the words become jumbled and distant as I drift to sleep. The more brainless the activity, the better. After all, my brain has been active and smart for the past 12 hours. I think it deserves to feel dumb and numb.
This is our first keyword: passive.
Perhaps you’ve heard of the two types of learning: active and passive. It’s behind the “study smarter not longer” idea. The difference between active and passive tasks isn’t groundbreaking. Yet, even though we know the difference, we don’t apply it quite enough.
The best day of your life
Think of the best day of your life. Perhaps it was a vacation to Disneyland, spending a holiday with your family or friends, maybe the first day of college? Whatever it is, I can nearly guarantee you it wasn’t a day that you spent lying on the couch all day watching Netflix. If you think about it, at Disneyland, you probably walked something like 10 miles between parks, socialized in the hour-long queues, sought out fast passes after being fed up with said queues, etc.
In other words, you were active, both physically and mentally, all day. So, then, why did it feel like a mental breather?
Well, there is no one right answer (or maybe the answer will come in the next few chapters of my MCAT textbook). I can tell you this much: our brains like to be stimulated. In fact, one of the theories of motivation claims that humans do most things in life for the sole goal of “arousing” our brains (the Optimal Functioning Hypothesis).
Bottom line: dopamine is awesome regardless of whether it’s in the form of a sparkly pink facial mask or pure white cocaine.
Furthermore, during the REM stage of sleep — arguably one of the most restorative and essential of all — our brains are as active as when we are awake! Brain scans show precisely the same levels of activity as when we are wide awake. The one difference is that during REM, our bodies are paralyzed.
Here is an EEG (“brain wave”) reading of a person who is awake and alert:
Here is an EEG reading during REM sleep:
Now, I’m no doctor (yet?), but I don’t see any groundbreaking difference.
Even in terms of attention, there is a difference between divided (selective) and undivided (automatic) attention. If we focus all of our energy on one single task, we are far more productive than if we try to place multiple tasks on autopilot and don’t really engage with anything.
Some “best day of your life” break ideas
What can we learn from our best, most restorative days? They are quite active and filled with activities that we enjoy. I encourage you to try being active during your breaks. Perhaps you can complete a task you’ve been putting off! Yes, it sounds like you’re just elongating your to-do list, but here is the key:
Make it completely unproductive.
After all, that is what a conventional break is — being unproductive for a moment by watching YouTube to decompress. But this time, while I encourage you to remain unproductive, try these activities (especially now that we all spend a little more time at home):
- Put on some fun facial masks that don’t have any real benefit for your skin but make you feel cute (men too!)
- Take a shower/bath mid-day as a break instead of it being another chore
- Spend thirty minutes on a long-forgotten hobby
- If you have one, go to a local coffee shop drive-thru with your dog and get him/her a Puppuccino
- Or just take them out on an entertaining walk to explore new scents, rather than going out for a potty and back
- Organize and declutter your desktop or phone
- Make a small but fancy snack and take your time eating it — fight the urge to multitask!
- Pretend you’re a celebrity performer and practice singing your favorite song, judgement-free
- Fill a jug of water and take your time drinking (a reasonable amount in one sitting). We don’t realize we’ve been dehydrated until we feel so much better after simply drinking two glasses of water
- Do something you’ve been putting off for a long time because it kept falling to the bottom of your list of priorities
- Learn about stock investment and other personal finance skills
- And, of course, read or write a Medium article — which is actually the break I’m taking right now!
I’m only learning to take breaks that are actually refreshing and healthy — and I encourage you also to do some trial-and-error. One of the trials for me was writing this Medium article in between studying. Thus far, I can confidently say that the happy neurochemicals released in my brain are far more motivating than the usual slump of the YouTube algorithm, which always turns into a full day of “breaks” anyway.
Best wishes and go take one active–yet–unproductive break!
